Guided missile



Dec. 19, 1961 P. L. J. CHANUT v 3,013,494

GUIDED MISSILE Filed Aug. 4, v 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

INVENTOR PLuT. f/zanu HMJMWM ATTOR NE Y5 P. L. J. CHANUT GUIDED MISSILE Dec. 19, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4, 1958 INVENTOR Dec. 19, 1961 P. J. CHANUT 3,013,494

GUIDED MISSILE Filed Aug. 4, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IIIIIIIIIIIIflI/l ATTORNEYS Dec. 19, 1961 P. L. J. CHANUT GUIDED MISSILE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 4, 1958 llllllli. 1

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,013,494 GUIDED MISSILE Pierre Louis Jean Chanut, Villa La Closeraie,

Palalda, France Filed Aug. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 752,980 Claims pnority, application France Aug. 9, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 102-49) The present invention has for its object the provision of a new small-sized guided missile whose construction is simple and economical, characterized by the fact that guiding thereof is effected by means of a floating annular deflector disposed at the rear of the propelling nozzle, the position of said deflector relative to two fixed axes being cyclically determined by all or none method, pulses being transmitted by two electric wires unwinding behind the missile and maintaining the same in communication with operator thereof.

Said missile according to the invention comprises also other peculiar characteristics. Its power unit comprises a starting propelling unit located immediately behind the effective charge and used solely to give thereto a speed sufi'lcient so that it may be guided. The discharging nozzles of such starting propelling unit are disposed laterally in each of four lifting vanes.

Immediately behind the starting propelling unit and at a place which corresponds substantially to the missile center of gravity there is provided a cruising propelling unit which is used to maintain an appropriate missile speed along the trajectory thereof. A tube conducts the jet of gas discharged by said cruising propelling unit to the rear of the missile.

In order that the missile may be as light as possible, the gyroscope (which is indispensable for locating relative to a fixed direction the position of the missile which rotates slowly about its own axis owing to the orientation of the vanes thereof) does not comprise any motor and consists of a metal mass having a high density, which is started turning at the necessary speed by a motor outside of the missile before the missile is launched, such motor being disconnected just before launching.

In order to gain room, the collector which sends the displacement orders to the jet deflector comprises a collecting ring for each of the four sectors to be controlled.

The wire reels are disposed on the rear part of the missile, the adjoining turns being stuck one to the other, the shape of the reel envelope being such that the wire which has an important centrifugal force applied thereto Owing to its rapid rotation is progressively led back onto the reel axis, avoiding thereby a localized important overheating at some point of the envelope which is itself coated with a product insuring a low friction coeflicient.

Guiding of the missile is facilitated by the fact that the parts visible from the rear are coated with a fluorescent paint very visible by day and becoming visible by night either through the radiation of the gas discharged by the cruising propelling unit or by being illuminated by infrared lamps. Alternatively, there can be provided at the rear in recesses one or more overrun electric lamps energized by a battery.

In order that the object of the invention be better understood an illustrative form thereof without any limitative character will be now given as an example, with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of the missile according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic front view of the missile;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic section of the missile rear part taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic section of the reel containing the wire and the envelope thereof.

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There is shown in FIG. 1 the effective charge 1 of the missile and its fairing nose 2. The starting propelling unit 3 which is disposed at the rear of the eflective charge comprises four nozzles 4 located within the vanes of the wing structure.

The vanes 5 (FIG. 2) are symmetrically disposed around the missile, each vane being slightly inclined to the missile axis so as to impart to the missile a slight rotation about its own axis.

The cruising propelling unit 6 which is disposed immediately at the rear of said starting propelling unit is approximately at the missile center of gravity and the gas discharged by said unit 6 flows through a transfer channel 7 to be discharged by a nozzle 8.

At the rear of the missile are provided relays 9 and 10, dry batteries 11, a distributor 12, a gyroscope 13 and two wire reels 14 and 15 which are symmetrically disposed at the rear in two opposed dihedrals of the wing structure.

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings, the annular jet deflector 16 is controlled by four electromagnets 17, 18, 19 and 20 (FIG. 3).

Positioning of the deflector is effected by all or none method, said electro-magnets receiving at relatively short intervals pulses (e.g. of the order of 10 to 20 per second) determining whether or not they push the deflector 16.

Obviously, so that the operator may effectively control the missile which rotates about its own axis, it is indispensable that the orders sent by him be corrected through a gyroscopic distributor in the conventional manner.

In the form of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3, the electro-magnets 17 and 18 push away the annular deflector 16 when the electro-magnets 19 and 20 are not energized.

Said deflector 16, which is made from a high temperature resisting sintered alloy is freely movable with a slight clearance in a housing at the rear part of the nozzle 21 and is maintained by an annulus 22.

There is shown also in FIG. 4 the movable core 23 of the electro-magnet 20 which is slidingly mounted on bearings 24 and 25 and is provided at the lower part thereof with a movable armature 26 capable of being drawn by the yoke 27.

When said electro-magnet 20 is not energized the core 23 and the movable armature 26 are free to move, and particularly the movable armature can bear on a stop 28 under the action of the core of the diametrically opposed electro-magnet 18 which is energized at this moment, the annular deflector 16 being used to distribute the forces between the cores of the different electrw magnets.

Conversely, when the winding 29 of the electro-magnet 20 is energized, the yoke 27 draws the movable armature 26 and the core 23 pushes away said deflector 16.

The missile direction is determined by the ratio of the times during which the electro-magnets act in the differ ent sectors which are fixed relative to a fixed direction.

In FIG. 5 is shown the wire reel 30 the turns of which are constituted by a conducting wire having a small diameter, e.g. a cold-drawn enamelled steel wire having a diameter of 0.2 mm. Said turns are stuck one to another so that the reel has a compact structure. The reel 30 is firmly fixed on a support 31 and is electrically connected to the relays by a conductor 32.

The reel 30 is housed in an envelope 33 the rear part of which has a concave-convex shape comprising a point 34 of change of curve located midway between the reel axis and said envelope. Such shape is intended to lead back progressively the wire 35 towards an orifice 36 which is provided coaxially with the reel so that the energy resulting from the centrifugal force determined by the quick unwinding of the wire is progressively decreased to avoid any localized overheating.

The inside of envelope 33 is lined with a product having a very low friction coefiicient.

The apparatus according to the invention may be readily rendered tight during conveyance thereof by fixing at its rear part a cover and by providing a closing device for the orifice through which the gyroscope starting motor may be connected.

On the other hand, in order that the apparatus may not breathe, all the inside spaces which do not contain any elements are filled with a cellular material so as to avoid condensations as much as possible.

To launch the missile, the same is placed on a metal support which guides the missile along a very short distance and imparts it the starting orientation. Said support may be very light in weight, since the missile does not apply any force thereto when it starts.

To launch the missile, the operator fixes the same on its support and he removes the tight cover located at the rear and he completes the electrical connections with the support.

The piloting device is constituted by a control stick of conventional type. The starting of the missile is very simply effected by having first the gyroscope driven by the external motor which disconnects itself automatically when the speed is sufficient, and then firing of the starting propelling unit is made electrically. The missile leaves then its support and as soon as the cruising propelling unit begins to operate, i.e. about one to two seconds after the starting, it is possible to guide the missile which is then directed on the target by alignment.

Owing to the very reduced dimensions of the missile according to the present invention, it is possible to dispose three or six missiles inside a very light car, as for example that available in the trade under the name of 2CV Citroen, such kind of vehicle allowing an easy and particularly economical conveyance and being also used as a starting mounting.

It is also possible to launch missiles according to my invention from helicopters.

It should be positively understood that the form of the present invention as herein described and shown in the drawings is by no means limitative and that those skilled in the art may bring any desirable modification without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Particularly it is possible to determine at any moment the position of the jet annular deflector through pneumatic means.

What I claim is:

l. A guided missile propelled during at least a portion of its flight by a jet of propulsion gases through a rearwardly directed nozzle and provided with means for guiding said missile by deflecting said jet of propulsion gases,

said guiding means comprising an annular deflector loosely held in a retaining chamber for sliding movement in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said nozzle, the inner diameter of said deflector being at least equal to that of said jet at the point where the deflector enters its path and a plurality of peripherally spaced individually actuated means for displacing said annular deflector in said plane, thereby bringing a portion of said annular deflector into the path of said jet.

2. A guided missile as claimed in claim 1 in which said displacing means are four solenoids provided with movable plungers positioned to engage said annular deflector and disposed in opposed pairs along transversely disposed intersecting diameters of said missile.

3. A guided missile as claimed in claim 1 in which said deflector is made of a sintered refractory metal.

4. A guided missile as claimed in claim 1 provided with guide vanes and carrying two propulsion charges connected to be successively ignited, the charge first to be ignited being positioned forwardly of the charge last to be ignited, and a plurality of nozzles for releasing the gases resulting from the burning of the first charge, said nozzles being rearwardly inclined at an angle of between 15 and 45 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the missile and disposed in the planes of said guide vanes.

5. A guided missile as claimed in claim 4 comprising a power source for said deflector displacing means located forwardly of said nozzle, and in which said charge second to be ignited is positioned forwardly of said deflector displacing means and power source and is connected to the front end of said nozzle by a passageway through which the gases produced by combustion of said second ignited charge pass enroute to said nozzle.

6. A guided missile as claimed in claim 1 in which a charge positioned near the center of gravity of said missile provides the gases which pass through said rearwardly directed nozzle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,653 Goddard July 7, 1914 1,879,187 Goddard Sept. 27, 1932 2,137,385 Butler Nov. 22, 1938 2,183,311 Goddard Dec. 12, 1939 2,502,650 Harris et al. Apr. 4, 1950 2,644,397 Katz July 7, 1953 2,694,898 Stauff Nov. 23, 1954 2,724,237 Hickman Nov. 22, 1955 2,779,157 Palmer Jan. 29, 1957 2,822,755 Edwards et al. Feb. 11, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,099 Great Britain Dec. 12, 1878 

